WV Supreme Court upholds state's denial of Nicholas consolidation

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The West Virginia Supreme Court has ruled that the state Board of Education had the right to reject the Nicholas County Board of Education’s plan to consolidate schools in Richwood, Summersville and Craigsville into a single campus near Summersville.

“The West Virginia Board of Education is entitled to utilize its discretion in approving or rejecting an amendment to a Comprehensive Educational Facilities Plan submitted pursuant to West Virginia Code of State Regulations 126-176-1 et seq. in aid of school closure or consolidation,” the Supreme Court wrote in a unanimous decision released Tuesday, though Chief Justice Allen Loughry also wrote a concurring opinion.

“Mere procedural compliance with statutory and regulatory requirements does not entitle a county board of education to approval of its proposed plan,” says the court’s opinion, written by Justice Margaret Workman. “We further find that the reasons formally adopted by the WVBOE for rejection of the plan were neither arbitrary nor capricious.”